Our Genealogy Helper
Introduction ...
We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:
- That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
- We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
- On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.
By learning about Burds Crossing (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.
As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Burds Crossing. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.
Name Variations for Burds Crossing ...
When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.
Although we can't give a definitive list, hopefully the following will give you a feel for the variations that might occur.
- A typical abbreviation for Burds Crossing: Burds Xing.
- While the name of this community is Burds Crossing, be aware that it's the common practice of mapmakers to remove the apostrophe from possessive names<1>. So Burds Crossing may originally have been Burd's Crossing.
Sometimes the trailing 's' might be dropped altogether, in which case Burds Crossing might be written as Burd Crossing.
If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.
Neighboring Counties ...
When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.
For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the south.
So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived: their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the west contained birth and death records; the county to the south contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.
If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.
Burds Crossing is located in Westmoreland County.
To see how the shape of Pennsylvania's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Westmoreland County: Allegheny, Armstrong, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Indiana & Somerset.
Below are the counties that are near Burds Crossing. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Burds Crossing:
- Westmoreland County (The home county of Burds Crossing)
- The following are listed by their distance from Burds Crossing, with the one closest to Burds Crossing listed first.
- Derry
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Derry is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Derry
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,495 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Derry <2>
- New Derry
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Kingston
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Kingston is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston
- McChesneytown - Loyalhanna
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Latrobe
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Lawson Heights
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Lawson Heights is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lawson Heights
- Youngstown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Darlington
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Darlington is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darlington
- Beatty
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Beatty is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beatty
- Burrell
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the north)
- Burrell is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burrell
- Manito
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Manito is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manito
- New Alexandria
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Ligonier
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Allegheny County
- The following are listed by their distance from Burds Crossing, with the one closest to Burds Crossing listed first.
- New Texas
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- New Texas is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Texas
- Plum
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Plum is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Plum
- Population from the 2020 Census: 26,993 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Plum <2>
- Buena Vista
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Buena Vista is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buena Vista
- Garden City
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Garden City is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden City
- Pitcairn
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Wall
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
- Wall is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wall
- Population from the 2020 Census: 553 people
- Leechburg
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Leechburg is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leechburg
- Unity
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northwest)
- Unity is located in Allegheny County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unity
- Boston
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- East McKeesport
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Monroeville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- North Versailles
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- White Oak
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the west)
- Armstrong County
- The following are listed by their distance from Burds Crossing, with the one closest to Burds Crossing listed first.
- Edmon
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
- Edmon is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Edmon
- Olivet
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)
- Olivet is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Olivet
- Orchard Hills
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Orchard Hills is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Orchard Hills
- Spring Church
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the northwest)
- Apollo
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- North Apollo
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
- Cochrans Mills
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Cochrans Mills is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cochrans Mills
- Elderton
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the north)
- Leechburg
(25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
- Tunnelville ‑ Historic
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the north)
- Tunnelville is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tunnelville
- Neale
(28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
- Neale is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Neale
- Atwood
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Atwood is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atwood
- Population from the 2020 Census: 100 people
- Whitesburg
(29 miles [46.7 km] to the north)
- Whitesburg is located in Armstrong County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitesburg
- Cambria County
- The following are listed by their distance from Burds Crossing, with the one closest to Burds Crossing listed first.
- Brownstown
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Elim
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Elim is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elim
- Lilly
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Lilly is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lilly
- Population from the 2020 Census: 873 people
- Southmont
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Southmont is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Southmont
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,048 people
- Westmont
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Westmont is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Westmont
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,625 people
- Wilmore
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
- Cambria City
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Cambria City is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cambria City
- Ferndale
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Johnstown
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Conemaugh
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Conemaugh is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Conemaugh
- Daisytown
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Daisytown is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Daisytown
- Population from the 2020 Census: 290 people
- Dale
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Dale is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dale
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,110 people
- Belmont
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the east)
- Belmont is located in Cambria County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belmont
- Fayette County
- The following are listed by their distance from Burds Crossing, with the one closest to Burds Crossing listed first.
- Laurelville
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- Laurelville is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Laurelville
- Bear Rocks
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Bear Rocks is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bear Rocks
- Champion
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the south)
- White
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the south)
- White is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
- Indian Head
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Indian Head is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Head
- Seven Springs
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the south)
- Everson
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the southwest)
- Everson is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Everson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 744 people
- Connellsville
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Dawson
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the southwest)
- Banning
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Banning is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Banning
- Dickerson Run
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Dickerson Run is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dickerson Run
- Fuller
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Fuller is located in Fayette County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fuller
- South Connellsville
(27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
- Indiana County
- The following are listed by their distance from Burds Crossing, with the one closest to Burds Crossing listed first.
- Blairsville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Bow
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
- Bow is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bow
- Robinson
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the northeast)
- Robinson is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Robinson
- Black Lick
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Black Lick is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Black Lick
- Palmertown
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- White
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- White is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for White
- Josephine
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast)
- Josephine is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Josephine
- Coral
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northeast)
- Clarksburg
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Jacksonville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the north)
- Jacksonville is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksonville
- Graceton
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
- Graceton is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Graceton
- Smathers
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)
- Smathers is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Smathers
- Heshbon
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
- Heshbon is located in Indiana County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Heshbon
- Somerset County
- The following are listed by their distance from Burds Crossing, with the one closest to Burds Crossing listed first.
- Laurel Mountain Village
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
- Jennerstown
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
- Thomas Mill
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Thomas Mill is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Thomas Mill
- Jenners Crossroads
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Jenners Crossroads is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenners Crossroads
- Roytown
(18 miles [29 km] to the southeast)
- Roytown is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Roytown
- Jenners
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Jenners is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jenners
- Jerome
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Jerome is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jerome
- Sipesville
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast)
- Sipesville is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sipesville
- Davidsville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the east)
- Bakersville
(20 miles [32.2 km] to the south)
- Bakersville is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bakersville
- Benson
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Benson is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Benson
- Population from the 2020 Census: 184 people
- Hollsopple
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Tire Hill
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the east)
- Tire Hill is located in Somerset County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tire Hill
- Washington County
- Donora
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the west)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Burds Crossing, see our County-by-County Page for Burds Crossing.
Cemeteries Near Burds Crossing ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Burds Crossing.
This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.
Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Burds Crossing - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Burds Crossing covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Burds Crossing, with the one closest to Burds Crossing listed first.
- St. Josephs Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Coles Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
- Rose Cemetery
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- St. James Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Mt. Carmel Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
- St. Marys Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the west)
- Unity Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Unity Cemetery
- The Unity Cemetery has also been known as:
- Unity Presbyterian Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #46551 <3>
- St. Vincent Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
- Keltz Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- St. Xavier Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Ligonier Valley Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ligonier Valley Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the Ligonier Valley Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the southwest of Ligonier.
- The Ligonier Valley Cemetery has also been known as:
- Valley Cemetery
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #1921576 <3>
- Blairsville Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Continue List (287 more) ...
- Union Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Craig Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Calvary Hill Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
Nearby Communities in 1895 ...
We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<4>
While we didn't find Burds Crossing in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Burds Crossing.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Burds Crossing, with the one closest to Burds Crossing listed first.
- Bradenville
(Less than 2 miles to the west)
- Bradenville is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bradenville
- New Derry
(Less than 2 miles to the north)
- Kingston
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the southwest)
- Kingston is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kingston
- Millwood
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
- Millwood is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millwood
- Loyalhanna
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the west)
- Loyalhanna is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Loyalhanna
- Latrobe
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Osburn
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southwest)
- Osburn is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osburn
- Hillside
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast)
- Hillside is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hillside
- Youngstown
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- McCance
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- McCance is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McCance
- Beatty
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Beatty is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beatty
- Darlington
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Darlington is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Darlington
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Bells
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Bells is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bells
- Grays
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- Grays is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Grays
- Manito
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
- Manito is located in Westmoreland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manito
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Burds Crossing. See our List of 1890's Communities around Burds Crossing.
Newspapers Published in Burds Crossing ...
An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).
To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.
Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 46 newspapers that have been published in the area around Burds Crossing.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Burds Crossing, there are papers which were published within 12 miles [19.3 km]<5>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Burds Crossing.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we first turn to the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These helpful websites offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.
To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Burds Crossing:
- Websites specific to Pennsylvania
- Pages specific to Westmoreland County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Allegheny County
- Armstrong County
- Cambria County
- Fayette County
- Indiana County
- Somerset County
- Washington County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for Pennsylvania
Footnotes ...
| <1> | It's generally believed that possessive apostrophes are removed to prevent confusion on maps where the apostrophe may be confused with a cartographic symbol. While this is generally true, it's not uncommon to find possessive apostrophes in administrative names (such as towns or counties). |
| <2> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <3> | The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com. |
| <4> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Burds Crossing, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <5> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Burds Crossing) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |